Base shell and feed therefor



BASE SHELL AND FEED THEREFOR I l H "l Marewavrar/'IM l l l l l sr/mw #imm l l I I I l l l l au, uf Pres.; ser |I l l I l l INVENTOR I I ms/r/av//va .S/v n /V/V l ll a TUI rsf A/. l Mil/HM /V/V/" y har/H6 PLI/waz I l l. l I I I l July 18, 1950 w. MAKENNY BASE saELE AND FEED mEREFoR Filed July 21, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY July 18, 1950 w. MAKENNY 2,515,881

BASE: SHELL AND FEED THEREFOR Filed July 2l, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 BYWMM ATTORN EY Patented July 18, 1.950

z,s1s,ss1 BASE sneu. AND FEED 'rimani-'on William Makenny, Mountain View, N. J., assixnor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation Aof Pennsylvania Application July 21, 1945, Serial No. 606,348

22 Claims. (Cl. 218-0.5)

This invention relates to a method and machine for applying -contact pins to novel base shells for electrical devices and, more particularly, to an` improvement in the feeding of such shells to a pin-staking machine.

The principal object of my invention, generally considered, is to automatically feed base shells, desirably specially formed for the purpose, to a machine carrying pins, so that said pins may be staked in position in said shells.

Another object of my invention is to provide a method for automatically feeding shells to a base-staking machine, in which the shells are fed one by one from a feeding dial to a friction loading platform between said dial and the turntable of said staking machine, each shell being turned on said platform to position its pin-receiving holes to correspond with the positioning of pins in the adjacent head on said machine, the turntable of said machine being indexed to place a base-pin carrying head thereof in position to receive such a shell, and said platform-supported shell being gripped and carried over said indexed pin-carrying head, and then forced down over the pins therein. Y

A further object of my invention is to provide a base staking machine which has means to automatically feed pins to heads of a turntable thereof, and means for subsequently automatically feeding shells over the pins in said head for being staked therein.

A still further object of my invention is to construct a base shell particularly designed for automatic feed. l

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the scale drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan of a staking machine embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the various steps in my method of feeding shells to a staking machine.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line III- III of Fig.- 1, on a larger scale, and in the direction of the arrows.

- Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of a portion of the vertically-reciprocating head of said machine.

Fig. 5 is a top plan, in full size in the original drawing, of one of the shells which my machine is adapted to feed.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view on the line VI--VI of Fig. 5, in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view on the line VII-VII of Fig. 5. in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view, corresponding with Fig. 3, but showing a subsequent relationship between the parts.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view, corresponding with Fig. 8. but showing the parts after the vertically-reciprocating head of the machine has descended to cause the turning plunger to engage one shell to turn it to position, and the placing yof which is described in the Whitmore et al. ap-

plication, Ser. No. 344,028, filed July 5, 1940, and entitled Method and Apparatus for Counting -Articles. In said application, there is described 0 how articles such as radio tube bases may be mounted while going through a staking machine. In said application, however, it was assumed that the'pins were fed to the machine in some previously known manner, Fig. 7 showing pipes for feeding pins or prongs to ahead 119 when indexed thereunder. In accordance with said application each base had four prongs or contact pins staked thereto.

In my application, Ser. No. 580,472, filed March l, 1945, and entitled Base Pin Feed, now Patent Number 2,502,227, granted March 28, 1950, I disclosed how to feed contact pins in pairs to bases which may serve for fluorescent lamps, it being pointed out that the machine might feed articles otherwise grouped, within the limits allowed by the length of the disclosed cut-oil' runway and the corresponding number of holes in the cut-off pin block, with which corresponding feeding pipes communicate for placing the selected pins in the apertures of each turntable head, as it indexes therebeneath.

In said application it was assumed that the shells for the bases were to be placed over the pins, after feeding to the heads of .the machine, by hand or in some known manner. In the present application, I propose to automatically feed such shells Aover the positioned base pins in the turntable head. Although I disclose the feeding of shells for bases which may serve for fluorescent lamps, it will be understood that my machine may feed shells for radio bases or other devices of such character. f

Referring to the drawing, there is shown part of a staking machine, generally designated Il, which comprises a frame l2, like the frame i3 in the referred-to application Ser. No. 344,028, in which is journalled a crank shaft (not shown herein), like that designated I4 in the referred-to application, causing a ram or press head 12 like that designated I5 in said application, to reciprocate vertically in suitable guides, and carrying driving means from a suitable source of power, not shown.

The machine of the present embodiment has a number of plungers operated by the ram 12. There is a plunger (not shown herein) which oils the prongs, at the position designated I6 in Fig. 1, after the same have been delivered to a head of the machine in the previous position designated I1, as through pipes I8 and |9 corresponding in number with the number of pins fed to each head, in the present instance, two. After a base shell 52, a preferred embodiment of which formed of Bakelite or other suitable insulative plastic, and which is shown in detail in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, has been positioned over the pins, automatically in the present instance, as at the position designated 2| of Fig. 1, `such base may be pushed down upon the pins and counted at 22, as in the said Whitmore et al. application referred to, preliminarily staked as at position 23, finally staked as at position 24, and discharged to chute or conveyor 25.

The details of the pins and staking operations,

if for bases to be used on uorescent lamps, may be in accordance with my application, Ser. No. 516,014, filed December 29, 1943 and entitled Base and Contact for Electrical Devices, now patent number 2,454,326, granted November 23. 1948. My application, Ser. No. 580,472, previously referred to, discloses the automatic feeding of contact pins at a position such as I1. The present application relates to the automatic feeding of shells at a position such as 2|, and will now be described in detail.

The reference character 26 designates, as one embodiment of shell feeding means or device, a conveyor, such as a disk or dial, rotating on a shaft 21, and driven in any desired manner, as by a bevel pinion 28 meshing with a bevel gear 29 to which dial 26 is secured, as by screws 30. The gear 28 is carried by shaft 3| journalled in the frame I2 of the machine, and carrying pulley 33 driven by a belt 34 from the drive means for the staking machine or other suitable source oi power (not shown). Shells are fed to rotating dial 26 as from a hopper (not shown) along a chute 35 to said dial, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1. In order to cause the shells to feed, one by one, to the delivery mechanism, a guard member 36 is provided over the dial, so as to cause the bases to feed between it and an associated guard member 31, when thedial is rotated counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. l.

The means for initially feeding the shells from the dial to an intermediate orienting platform 53 comprises an angular arm 39 pivoted to the frame I2 as indicated at 4|. This arm is desirably oscillated by a connecting rod 42 extending thereto from the standard intermittent machine-drive mechanism 43. The latter serves to index the turntable 38 step by step, as by means of a pawl 44 sequentially engaging peripheral notches 45, and a corresponding ratchet (not shown) The connecting rod 42 is pivoted to an extension 46 from said drive mechanism 43, as indicated at 41, the other end sliding in a sleeve 48, pivoted to the adjacent end of the arm 39, as indicated at 49. A desired amount of lost motion is provided before the spring 5|, on said connecting rod 42, engages the sleeve 48 and causes the arm 39 to push a shell 52 from dial 26 to intermediate supporting means, such as a loading platform 53 between said dial and the turntable 38. Adjustments in the travel in the arm 39 are provided by set screw 54 engaging stop 55 on said arm, and set screw 56 engaging stop 51 on said arm. A spring 40 is held on the free end portion of rod 42 by nuts 50. The free or right hand end of arm 39, as viewed in Fig. 1, is provided with a curved pocket 58 into which are fed shells, one at a time, the outer portion of said arm extending around the received shell, as indicated at 59, and provided with an extension 6| which, when the arm has moved from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 to that 'shown in full lines in Fig. 10, engages the next adjacent shell 52'A and prevents it from coming out from between the guides 36 and 81.

'The arm 39 carries a turret portion 62, adjustably secured thereto, as by means of nut-secured studs 60 extending from the arm 39 through a slot 10, in an extension of said turret, to which turret lingers 63 and 64 are pivoted, as indicated at 65 and 66, springs 95 and 96 being provided to urge said fingers toward one another and grip any object which is located therebetween. These fingers have extensions 61 which project far enough down to grip a base shell 52 when moved therebetween, even though said shell is at the level of the dial 26 therebeneath. The frame I2 also carries nozzles 68 and 69 connected by pipe 1I with a compressed air supply, so as to blow air on the shells as they are being moved from the dial to the loading platform, in order to keep them in the desired pocket 58 of the arm 39.

The ram or press head 12 carries a plate 12 in which is mounted a housing 86. A shell-tuming plunger 13, the head of which may be replaceable as represented, moves in said housing, and a pinor shell-placing plunger 14 reciprocates in said plate 12'. The shell-tuming plunger has a central boss 91, tting a corresponding central shell pocket 98, to provide for the desired turning motion, and a pair of projections or pockets 15 and 16, desirably V-shaped in section, on or in its lower surface, adapted to respectively engage or receive preferably conical bosses 11 and 18, desirably formed on a boss 90 on the inner surface of each shell and disposed midway between the pin-receiving apertures 19 and 8| in said boss. Bottom-wall reinforcing ribs 99 desirably extend from the periphery of said boss to the shell flange |0I.

This plunger 13 has a lateral stud 82, desirably carrying a roller 83 traveling in a helical slot 84, 1

the latter desirably terminating in a longitudnally extending upper end portion 85, in the plunger housing 86. Said housing is closed at its upper-end by an abutment 81 through which the plunger rod 18' projects, and is limited in downward movement by nuts 80. A coil spring 88 engages the abutment 81 and its lower end rests on the upper element 89 of a ball-bearing assembly 9|, the lower element of which assembly presses on the top of the shoulder between the rod 10 and plunger 13.

By virtue of this construction, when the plunger 13 descends and engages a shell 52 therebeneath, said plunger telescopes with respect to its housing 86 against the action of the spring 88, and after its boss 91 is received in the central bearing-forming shell pocket 98, turns the shell, after engaging the bosses 11 and 18 thereof, to a position represented by the extension of the slot 84. It

is not theoretically necessary that this shellturningplunger rotate each shell more than 180,

and then prior to disengagement return it to the desired position for registering with positioned pins in the turn-table 36, because there are two pin-receiving apertures spaced 180in each shell,

tion loading platform 53 (desirably formed of liber, hard rubber or other frictional material to insure no more than the forcible turning desired) to above an indexed pin-carrying turntable head, and push it down over the pins in said head from the position of Fig. 8, to that illustrated in Fig. 9.

In order to take care of shells which the shellplacing plunger 14 fails to apply to head-carried pins 93 and 94, due, for example, to the shells being defectively not supplied with holes to receive the pins, the stationary hub portion |02 of the machine is provided withy an apron |03, secured thereto as by means of straps |04 and |05. The farthest radial edge of said apron is upturned or provided with an upstanding flange |06 to limit travel of any shell thereon. An air nozzle |01 is provided, as illustrated in Fig. 1, so that if a shell gets onto the apron, as from one of the heads of the turntable, it is blown therefrom into a receptacle |08. A consideration of Fig. 3 will show that the outer peripheral edge of the apron is approximately at the level of the top surface of the heads of the turntable, with slight clearance as illustrated so as to avoid interfering with movement of shells which are properly placed on said heads. Any head-inserted pins, to which shells have not been applied, are removed at position |09. This removal may be by means of a pipe which overlies head-position |09 and serves to receive any pins blown out of heads when in that position, by pressure of air blown from pipe H2, which has branches ||3 and I4, one under each pin-receiving hole in the indexed head, if a shell is not there in place. A shell in place, however, prevents any withdrawal because such a shell is too big to pass through the pipe which desirably has a lower flange |I5, as will be clear from a consideration of Figs. 1, 3 and 10.

The apparatus heretofore described operates as follows'. The machine is put in operation, causing intermittent turning or indexing of the table 3B, continuous rotation of the dial 26, flow of air from nozzles 68, 69 and |01, the application of suction to pipe lll, oscillation of the arm 39, and reciprocation of the press head 12. As a shell is fed to the arm pocket 58 by rotation ofdisk 26, oscillation of the arm 39 from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 to that illustrated in full lines in Fig. 10, causes part 59 thereof to move said shell from the dial 26 to the frictional loading platform 53, the flow of air from the nozzles 66 and 69 keeping it in place in the arm pocket. The press head 12 thereafter descends carrying the turning plunger 13 into engagement with the shell 52 thus placed on the loading platform 53.

Upon the plunger 13 engaging the shell 52, its descent is arrested, its housing 86 telescopes after taking up the lost motion between the projections (as here preferred) 15 and 16 and the shell bosses 11 and 18, turns the shell clockwise and leaves it in the position desired for receiving the pins in the adjacent turntable head.

Before the shell-turning plunger 13 starts to rise return movement of the arm 39 from the position represented in full lines in Fig., 10 to that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10 and in full lines in Fig. 1 causes the fingers 63 and 64 to grip the shell under plunger 13. After release by upward movement of the plunger 13, the shell is moved by the fingers 63 and 64 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that illustrated in full lines in Fig. 10 by that oscillation of the arm 39 in the next succeeding cycle that carries the next shell from disk 26 to the loading platform 53, thereby placing the turned shell directly over the pin-carrying head of the turntable 38 indexed adjacent to the loading platform.

On the next downward movement of the press head 12, the shell turning plunger 13 not only turns the next shell fed therebcneath, but the shell-placing plunger 14 pushes the turned shell from between the fingers 63 and 64 onto the pins 93 and 94 in the indexed turntable-head therebeneath. After the press head 12 rises, said shell is carried with the inserted pins around the turntable for subsequent operations, such as, setting and counting, preliminary staking, final staking, and discharge to the chute 25.

A consideration of Fig. 2 will show the correlation between thevarious movements of the machine for performing the process heretofore described. The indexing of the turntable 38 is effected during the rst part of a selected cycle. During the latter part of the indexing movement, after the lost motion provided by the sliding connecting rod 42 is taken up,` the arm 39- is oscillated from the position illustrated in Fig. l to that illustrated in full lines in Fig. 10, where it stays for approximately half a cycle, when it is returned. The gripping fingers 63 and |54 recede from and release a shell 52 after it is partly positioned over the pins but before the placing plunger 14 has finished positioning the oriented shell over the pins, and grips a new shell, placed beneath the plunger 12 while said new shell is being rotated by the turning plunger 13 coincident with outward movement of the arm 39.

The press head 12 with its plungers starts to descend after the arm 39 has moved in, and starts to ascend before the arm is returned. The turning plunger 13 starts rotating a shell 52 before it -is gripped by the lingers 63 and 64, engaging it while merely held against the arm 39 by air flow. The turning is completed after the shell has been gripped by said fingers, and as the press head rises the plunger 13 turns the shell reverselyto l the position desired and then disengages therefrom. This insures that each shell is properly positioned when the fingers place it over headheld pins 93 and 94 and the shell placing plunger thereover while turning it by movement of the 14 forces it down.

The4 plunger 1l starts forcing the shell over the pins while said shell is gripped between the fingers 63 and 64 and held elevated thereabove, said ngers releasing only after the shell is properly engaged by said pins. Thus, it takes two arm oscillations to transfer a given shell from the dial 26 to its pins on the turntable 38.

A summary of the foregoing operations is as follows:

1. The turntable 38 is indexed by intermittent table drive 43.

y2. The arm 39 is oscillated through connection with the intermittent table drive, a lost motion connection causing this oscillation to start toward the end of the indexing of the turntable 38.

3. A shell is pushed from the dial 26 by arm 39, while being held against said oscillating arm by air flow, to a loading platform 53 adjacent the turntable.

4. A shell-turning plunger 13 descends, orienting the loading-platform-supported shell 52 about its axis to proper position for feeding over pins. If the pins 93 and 94 lie on a circumference, as illustrated, the plunger 13 turns the shell so that when moved by the fingers 63 and 64 over said pins, the axes of the apertures 19 and 8l also lie on the circumference, as well as in the plane of the pin axes.

5. During this turning operation, the fingers grip the shell and, when the shell-turning plunger rises, move it over the pins positioned in an indexed turntable head.

6. The placing plunger, on the next reciprocation of the press head, forces the shell from the fingers and presses it over the pins held in the indexed turntable head.

7. The assembled shell and pins are moved from there to positions for subsequent operations, such as; setting and counting, preliminary staking,

final staking, and discharge.

Although a preferred embodiment of my invention has been disclosed, it will be understood that modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim: y

1. The method of feeding shells to a head of the conveyor of a base staking machine, comprisng turning each shell on a stationary support past which said conveyor moves, so that it is oriented with respect to the adjacent head of said conveyor, moving said turned shell over said conveyor head, and while the conveyor is indexed forcing said shell down thereonto.

2. The method of feeding shells to the headcarrying conveyor of a base staking machine, comprising moving each shell from feeding means to support means adjacent and past which said conveyor moves, turning each shell on said support means so that it is oriented with respect to the adjacent conveyor head, moving said shell from said support means over said head. and while the conveyor is indexed forcing said shell down thereover.

3. The method of feeding shells to the headcarrying conveyor of a base staking machine, comprising moving each shell from feeding means to support means adjacent and past which said conveyor moves, turning each shell on said support means about its axis, 4so that it is oriented with respect to the adjacent conveyor head, moving said shells from said support means over said head, and while the conveyor is indexed forcing said shell down thereover.

4. The method of fitting shells to the headcarrying turntable of a base staking machine, comprising turning each shell, first one way and then the other, so that it is left in position oriented with a head of said turntable, moving said shell over said head, and while said turntable is indexed forcing said shell down so that it is positioned on said head.

5. The method of tting shells to the headcarrying turntable of a base staking machine, comprising feeding each. shell to an orientlng platform adjacent said turntable, turning said shell on said platform, first one way and then the other, so that it is left in position oriented with a head of said turntable, moving said shell from said platform over said head, and while said turntable is indexed forcing said shell down so that it is positioned on said head.

6. The method of feeding shells to the headcarrying turntable of a base-staking machine, comprising pushing a shell from a feedingvdial to an orienting platform between said dial and said turntable, turning said shell on said platform to a position oriented with an adjacent turntable head, indexing the turntable of said machine to place such a head thereof, in position to receive a shell, gripping said positioned shell and carrying it from said platform over said indexed head, and then forcing said shell down to said head.

7. The method of feeding shells to the headcarrying turntable of a base-staking machine, comprising feeding a shell to a pocket in an arm, oscillating said arm to move the shell to an orienting platform, blowing air on said shell to keep it in place in the arm pocket during said movement. turning the shell on said platform so that it is oriented with an indexed head on said turntable. gripping said shell and moving it from said platform over said head, and forcing said shell down from between the gripping means so that it is fitted on said head.

8. In apparatus for staking the shells of bases for electrical devices, a conveyor, heads carried thereby and adapted to be indexed to receive pins for such shells, a stationary support adjacent said conveyor, means for feeding shells one by one to said support, and shell turning and shell placing plungers, the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated, whereby each shell is moved onto said support, oriented by the shellturning plunger, moved overl an indexed head, and forced down by said shell placing plunger over pins in said head. l

9. In apparatus for staking the shells of bases for electrical devices, a conveyor, heads carried thereby and adapted to be indexed to receive pins for such shells, a stationary support adjacent said conveyor, means for feeding shells one by one to said support, and shell turning and shell placing plungers, shell carrying means, the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated, whereby each shell is moved onto said support, oriented by the shell-turning plunger, gripped by the carrying means and moved over an indexed conveyor head, and forced down from said carrying means by said shell placing plunger over pins in said head.

l0. In apparatus for staking the shells of bases for electrical devices, a conveyor, heads carried thereby and adapted to be indexed to receive pins for such shells, a stationary support adjacent said conveyor. means for feeding shells one by one to said support, means for removing misplaced shells and pins which have not been placed in a shell, shell turning and shell placing plungers, and shell carrying means, the motions of the parts o! 9 said apparatus being correlated, whereby each shell is moved onto said support, oriented by the shell-turning plunger, gripped by the carrying means and moved over an indexed conveyor head, and forced down from said carrying means by said shell placing plunger over pins in said head.

11. In apparatus for staking the shells of bases for electrical devices, a conveyor, heads carried thereby and adapted to receive pins for such shells, mechanism for indexing said conveyor step by step, in accordance with the number of heads carried thereby, an arm oscillated through a lostmotion connection with the conveyor indexing mechanism, means for feeding shells one by one to said arm, support means between said dial and turntable, and shell carrying means on said arm, shell-turning and shell-placing plungers, the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated, whereby each shell is moved by the oscillating arm from the shell-feeding means to the support means, oriented on the latter by said shell-turning plunger, gripped by said carrying means, moved over an indexed conveyor head, and forced down from said carrying means by said shell-placing plunger over pins in said head.

12. In apparatus for staking the shells of bases for electrical devices, a. turntable, heads carried thereby and adapted to receive pins for such shells, mechanism for indexing said turntable step by step, in accordance with the number of heads carried thereby, an arm oscillated through a lost-motion connection with the table indexing mechanism, a dial for feeding shells one by one to said arm, a loading platform between said dial and turntable, shell gripping fingers carried by said arm, and a press head. carrying shell-turning and shell-placing plungers, the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated, whereby each shell is moved by the oscillating arm from the dial to the loading platform, oriented on said loading platform by said shell-turning plunger, gripped by said arm carried fingers, moved over an indexed turntable head, and forced down from between said fingers by said shell-placing plunger over pins in said head.

13. A shell for an electrical device comprising an insulating cup formed as a bottom wall and a peripheral flange, said bottom wall having a central portion thickened, formed with apertures offset from its center and adapted to receive contact pins, and having an internal central pocket for receiving a pivot portion of a shell-turning plunger, and a pair of internal conical bosses on said thickened portion at opposite sides of said pocket for engagement by parts of said plunger for turning said shell about said pivot portion to orient it for the reception of such pins.

14.' In apparatus for applying pins to shellsof bases for electrical devices comprising a conveyor, heads carried thereby and each having apertures and adapted to be indexed to receive pins for said shells in said apertures and then indexed to receive shells over such pins, shell-feeding means, means for moving shells one by one from said feeding means toward said conveyor, and shell.- turning and shell-placing plunger means, the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated whereby each shell, after movement from said feeding means, is oriented for pin reception and forced down over pins in an indexed head by said plunger means.

15. In apparatus for staking the shells of bases for electrical devices, a conveyor, heads carried thereby, provided with holes, and adapted to be indexed to receive pins for said shells in said holes and then indexed to receive shells over such i pins, a shell-feeding device, means for feeding shells one by one from said device toward said conveyor, a shell turning plunger, a shell placing plunger, and shell carrying means, the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated. whereby each shell is moved from said feeding device, oriented by the shell turning plunger, and forced down by said shell-placing plunger over pins in an indexed head.

16. In apparatus for staking the shells of bases for electrical devices, a conveyor, heads carried thereby and adapted to be indexed to receive pins for such shells and then indexed to receive shells over such pins, means for feeding shells one by one to said conveyor, means for removing misplaced shells and pins which have not been placed in a shell, a shell-turning plunger. a

shell-placing plunger, and shell carrying means,

the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated, whereby each shell is moved from said feeding means toward said conveyor, oriented by the shell-turning plunger, and forced down by said shell-placing plunger over pins in an indexed head.

17. In apparatus for staking the shells oi' bases for electrical devices, a conveyor, heads carried thereby and adapted to receive pins for such shells, mechanism for indexing said conveyor step by step in accordance with the number of heads carried thereby, an arm oscillated through a lostmotion connectionwith the conveyor indexing mechanism, means for feeding shells one by one to said arm, shell carrying means on said arm, a shell-turning plunger, and a shell-placing plunger, the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated, whereby each shell is moved by the oscillated arm toward said conveyor, oriented by the shell-turning plunger, and forced down by said shell-placing plunger over pins in an indexed head.

18. In apparatus for staking the shells of bases for electrical devices, a turntable, apertured heads carried thereby and adapted to receive pins for such shells, mechanism for indexing said turntable step by step, so that one head after another is positioned for the reception of pins and later for the reception of aV shell, an arm oscillated through a lost-motion connection with the table indexing mechanism, means for feeding shells one by one to said arm, shell gripping flngers carried by said arm, a device carrying shell-turning and shell-placing means, the motions of the parts of said apparatus being correlated, whereby each shell-is moved by the gripping ngers of the oscillating arm toward an indexed head, oriented by said shell-turning plunger, and forced down from between said flngers by said shell-placing plunger over pins in an indexed head.

19. A machine in the class described comprising means for holding a plurality of contact pins in given spaced relation, shell feeding means, means for removing from said feeding means a shell having apertures in a wall thereof, means engageable with a portion of said shell for orientlng it for the reception of said pins after said removal. means for moving said oriented shell over said contact pins, and means for pushing said shell from said moving means to position said contact nins in said apertures.

20. A machine in the class described comprising a conveyor, means carried thereby for supporting a plurality of sets of contact pins in given spaced relation, means for indexing said conapertured 11 veyor to successively receive shells over supported contact pins, mechanism for feeding shells each having apertures in a wall thereof, rotatablef tact pins sequentially to each of heads of a conveyor, while indexing said conveyor with respect to said feeding means, feeding shells with holes spaced, and of a size, to receive the pins in said heads, one by one to, and holding them on, a stationary orienting platform adjacent said conveyor, turning each `Shell on said platform so that the position of its pin-receiving holes corresponds with that of pins in the adjacent head of said conveyor, moving said positioned shell over the pins of said adjacent conveyor head while the latter are indexed at the shell-applying station, and forcing said shell down -so that the pins in said indexed head are tted in its holes.

22. A shell for an electrical device comprising andnsulating cup formed as a bottom wall and a peripheral flange, said bottom wall having a central internally thickened portion formed with a central pocket opening inwardly to receive a pivot portion of a shell-turning plunger, said thickened portion having a pair of contact pin apertures disposed one on each side of said pocket and adjacent the periphery of said thickened portion, a pair of conical bosses disposed on said thickened portion on opposite sides of said pocket for engagement by parts of said plunger to turn said shell about its axis and orient it for reception of contact pins, and each uniformly spaced 90 circumferentially from said apertures, and ribs reinforcing said bottom wall between said thickenedl central portion and peripheral iiange, two of said ribs extending radially in the plane of said apertures and the other ribs spaced equally from one another 60 apart.

WILLIAM MAKENNY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:I

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 156,902 Woodward Nov. 17, 1874 679,444 Vinton July 30,' 1901 1,085,185 White Jan. 27, 1914 1,257,263 Lyons Feb. 19, 1918 1,560,605 Polsen Nov. l0, 1925 1,572,530 Hendry Feb. 9, 1926 1,800,259 Mayrshafer Apr. 14, 1931 1,833,268 Spry Nov. 24, 1931 1,871,382 Meyer Aug. 9, 1932 1,888,165 Gagnon Nov. 15, 1932 1,900,099 Ferguson Mar. 7, 1933 1,914,650 Reutter June 20, 1933 1,941,992 Makenny Jan. 2, 1934 2,067,225 Miller Jan. 12, 1937 2,134,404 Huelster Oct. 25, 1938 2,284,151 Kingston May 26, 1942 2,310,007 Wolff Feb. 2, 1943 2,454,326 Makenny Nov. 23, 1948 

